


Silver and Gold

by JainaDurron7



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Family, Percababy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28110345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JainaDurron7/pseuds/JainaDurron7
Summary: Some gifts are best when opened in privacy
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 96





	Silver and Gold

_ “How do you measure its worth? _

_ Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth” _

~ “Silver and Gold”, Burl Ives

* * *

Percy is brushing his teeth before they leave to go to his mom and Paul’s place for Christmas. Annabeth glares at him until he does because Percy doesn’t understand why he needs to brush his teeth when he’ll spend the whole day snacking as soon as he gets there. Otherwise, as it always is, his mom’s dress code is strictly pajamas and comfy cozies. Percy can’t imagine ever wearing anything else on Christmas Day.

He’s just washing up when Annabeth joins him, leaning in the bathroom doorway. “Hey,” he smiles. “You ready?”

“Almost. But first, I have a gift for you.”

His brow ticks up, and Annabeth grins in apparent satisfaction at his surprise. “Beth, I thought we agreed we’re opening our gifts at my parents’ today.”

“I know, but I want you to see this before your family does.”

“I’m not giving you your present now.”

“That’s fine.”

“So, what’s so special about yours that you have to give it to me now?”

“Why don’t you open it and see?”

Percy accepts the box, but he stops there. “This must be pretty special if you want to start the morning with this.”

“Percy, I don’t think  _ I _ can wait for you to open it.”

He raises a brow, suggestively. “You don’t want my parents to see, huh?”

Annabeth huffs and rolls her eyes. “Gods! Yes, Percy. I’m gifting you something sexy right before we go see your parents. You’re so dense.”

“Then, why else would you be giving this to me now?”

“Why don’t you just open it?”

“No. I want to know—”

“Percy, I swear to all the gods in Olympus that I will open it right now if you don’t.”

“Alright, alright! Geez, Annabeth!”

He’s still grinning at her, more amused than anything, as he takes a second to look at the package Annabeth put into his hands. He recognizes the jewelry box as the one that the necklace Percy bought her last Christmas came in. At that realization, Percy is amused by how thrown together this little gift is. Crumpled paper wrapped around an old jewelry box. The thing in the box isn’t so dazzling either, but it has Percy seeing stars when the lid pops open.

Nestled between velvet fabric is the cheapest gift Percy thinks he’s ever received, but the dollar store pregnancy test bears two pink lines on the tiny screen, and its worth then becomes invaluable.

Percy blinks. Once, twice. He can’t believe it. There was no gradual climax to opening this gift, no hint, no prelude. Percy opened the box not sure what to expect, though not expecting something so grand, but his eyes took not a second to register, and now his life is completely changed.

He blinks again just to make sure. Brains are funny, he thinks, and it’s hard to know when you’re seeing clearly. The Mist, for instance. He’s a demigod and he can’t always see perfectly through the Mist; sometimes, his mom can see better than him. Maybe, this is like that because he and Annabeth have been talking about starting a family for nearly a year now, and Percy can understand how he might force a fanciful illusion onto a white elephant gift. Annabeth can be funny like that; she does have a sense of humor.

But Percy keeps blinking, and nothing is changing. Still cushioned there in the rectangular box is a cheap pregnancy test, and Percy is pretty sure he remembers that two lines are positive. Maybe, he’s wrong about that. Maybe, two lines are negative. No, Percy knows better than that. Besides, there’s a  _ feeling _ nagging at him, yelling at him to stop being so stupid and  _ react _ , say something, look at Annabeth, do something, good  _ gods,  _ what did it take, just  _ look  _ at her—

So, Percy does. Annabeth is watching him, this little  _ beam  _ on her face. This weird grin— except, it isn’t so much a grin, and it isn’t even a smile Percy has ever seen on her before. But whatever that smile is, it’s beautiful, Percy thinks, and it makes him want to kiss her. But he also can’t help but stare at that beam and the stars in her glassy eyes. Glassy— is she crying? She’s about to. Annabeth’s watching him, smiling, about to cry because—

“You’re pregnant?”

She nods. “We’re having a baby.”

“Annabeth?” His voice is barely a croak and all of a sudden his eyes are glassy too. He can feel it, but it’s a speck among all the things he feels as Annabeth’s smile broadens, she nods again and again and again, more persistently. And then Percy has her in his arms. A second later, he’s afraid he practically ran over her, but he has her caught up in his arms, feet above the ground, and Annabeth has her arms wrapped around his neck, sniffling in his ear, and Percy’s clinging to her, holding her there, heart pounding in his own ears—

He sets her down, looks at her. Tears are marking a path down her rosy cheek, and Percy thinks they’re beautiful too. Each individual one.

She’s still holding on to him, hands on his shoulders, anchoring him close. Far? Percy isn’t going anywhere.

“You’re really …?”

“Really. I took three tests.”

“When?”

Annabeth laughs shortly. “Yesterday. I’ve been pretty sure about it for close to a week, but I wanted to tell you today and I knew I couldn’t wait a week to tell you. So, I waited until last night so I didn’t know for sure.”

Percy is smiling, showing teeth, though not a grin. Grins are for confidence, when you are sure of something and everything makes sense. There is no negative emotion in this moment, no particular lack of confidence, but Percy is still grasping straws in his awe. He laughs, too, because Annabeth is terrible at keeping secrets. But so is he.

“I can’t keep a secret from my mom.”

Now, it’s Annabeth’s turn, and her shoulders shake with amusement. “I know.”

“So, we’re telling my family today.”

She shrugs. “I figured.”

“ … We’re really having a baby?”

“Yeah, Seaweed Brain.”

Annabeth pulls him into her arms, reels him back in. She takes the sides of his face for a kiss, but she tells him first, one more tear escaping down her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Daddy.”

She’s still wearing that beam, and it’s the damn most beautiful thing Percy’s ever seen. So, still wearing his own dopey, dazed smile, he leans in and finally kisses her. It’s sweet and salty, and it’s the most delicious thing he tastes all day.

Soon, they realize they’re running late for Christmas at the Jackson-Blofis home. They take a minute to clean their tears even though Percy knows he’ll be crying along with Sally when they tell her and Paul.

He holds Annabeth’s hand the entire car ride, and he hopes she knows this is what the next nine months will look like. Not because he’s already developing some complex about having to protect his pregnant, helpless wife, but because he loves her so much— even more for doing this— and he thinks it will be much harder now to let go.

For now, Annabeth doesn’t seem to mind. They hold hands and trade goofy smiles all the way to Manhattan until Annabeth lets go, schools her face, and glares at Percy until he manages to do the same.

But that damn smile won’t leave him alone, and it’s that smile he’s thinking about, that new smile that shifted Percy’s world, when Sally ushers them inside and Percy immediately blurts, “Mom, you’re not gonna’ believe this.”


End file.
